


And They Were Roommates

by schreibfederlaerm



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Asexual Raphael Santiago, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fraternities & Sororities, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Izzy is aro pan, M/M, Multi, Pansexual Simon Lewis, Simon and Raphael are Roommates, Slow Burn, Swearing, Underage Drinking, Underage bc Raphael is just almost 18, there are enemy fraternities, they hate it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-19 11:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13703202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schreibfederlaerm/pseuds/schreibfederlaerm
Summary: "Let me tell you exactly where in hell you can go.”"I'm Jewish, your concept of hell doesn’t even apply to me."There are a lot of ways to describe Simon and Raphael's relationship when they are forced to be roommates - friendship isn't close to becoming one of them. Meanwhile, Magnus is trying no to fall for new student Alec, whose brother is part of the Delpha frat - the nemesis to Magnus' own fraternity.





	1. The Ugly Dick Frat it is

„Really, Magnus, you don’t have to do this. I can survive on my own.”

“It’s fine. I _love_ being your companion for your first day on college and you know it,” Magnus said, handing Raphael more flyers without looking back to see if Raphael actually took them before letting go. “They grow up so fast.”

Raphael rolled his eyes. “Still not your son.”

Magnus waved his hand dismissively before continuing. “Also, I want to make sure you don’t end up with the wrong people.”

“So, anyone outside of your fraternity?”

“I have exquisite taste, Raphael. You should be grateful that I already took the three-year-long process of handpicking the most interesting personalities on myself.”

The younger man wisely decided not to comment on that and focused on the stack of paper in his hands instead. There were maps for every separate building, one sketch of the whole campus, menus of several take-outs and a couple of more or less desperate attempts to convince the freshmen to join their clubs. Raphael silently wondered if it had been a bad idea to let Magnus take over his college orientation when he realized what the bright pink flyer was advertising for.

“I really don’t think I’ll need to know when the ballet group practices, Magnus. Are you just handing me things randomly?”

“Nonsense. It’s vitally important for you to know their morning lesson plan by heart.” They had passed about half of the booths that were huddled on the square and Magnus hadn’t once stopped his vigorous pace for more than a few seconds. But Raphael was way too focused on not losing sight of his red highlights to question their destination.

“How so?”

“Well,” Magnus said, sidestepping a couple, “that’s when the gross doorman is distracted by them stretching on the lawn right in front of your dorm. And when you come back from one of the frat parties or your newest _beau_ , you don’t want someone who asks a lot of questions, do you?”

Raphael stopped moving, forcing Magnus to finally disrupt his speed walking. “ _When_? You know I’m not here to party, Magnus. That’s not—”

“—what that scholarship is for, the college has given you so much already, including your own room, you must not betray their trust by, god forbid, having fun,” Magnus finished his sentence. He laid a hand on the other one’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I know. This is a great opportunity and I’m very proud of you for making it this far. But having fun won’t take away any of the things you accomplished. I promise, _thambi_.”

For a long moment, Raphael stared at his friend. Then he swallowed, brushed off his hand and said: “Hey, isn’t that the fraternity you hate so much?”

There was a split-second when Magnus didn’t seem to fall for it and his eyes were filled with worry. But one blink later, there was his dramatic self again, making a disgusted face. “Phi Delta Alpha.”

As far as Raphael understood, Phi Delta Alpha – which stood for their motto, _facilis descensus averni,_ the descent to hell is easy – was something like the nemesis fraternity for the one Magnus belonged to – Ny Theta Delta, which stood for _nolite timere discere_ , don’t be afraid to learn, or, if anyone but someone of authority asked, _not the dicks_. During their weekly calls, Magnus had painted a vivid picture of the two fraternities. His was a beacon of acceptance, diversity, eternal friendship, and glitter. Theirs was the bland, boring, and blatantly close-minded example of the average frat.

Magnus arrived at the booth only seconds later and Raphael wondered whether that had been his goal the whole time. Knowing Magnus, he hurried to catch up with his friend, before the booth conveniently caught fire or something. He was just in time to hear Magnus try to convince some guy of this frat’s natural awfulness.

“…seen their logo? Normally, it would be beneath me to point that out, but the letters clearly form a phallic shape. And not a pretty one, I might add.”

The guy – tall, black hair, dark eyes, exactly Magnus’ type – looked down at his spiky hair and seemed to get more flustered with every passing second.

“Actually,” another guy who had appeared behind the booth’s table said with a condescending smile, “Alec has already made his decision. The ugly dick frat it is.”

Alec shrugged in reaction to Magnus’ raised eyebrow, blushing slightly. “Jace is my brother. Literally,” he added quickly, before correcting himself again. “Well, not literally, we aren’t related, actually.”

“That’s obvious, darling,” Magnus said.

Raphael was about to remind him that they had things to do when two girls walked over from the neighbor booth. Did this uncomfortable conversation group really need to grow? The redhead let herself be pulled into Jace’s arms while the other girl – who had a striking resemblance with Alec, except she was maybe even prettier – sized Magnus up.

“Everything okay here?”

“There’s nothing to worry about, biscuit,” Magnus answered with a smile. Raphael took a closer look at the redhead he now guessed to be Clary – hers and Magnus’ mother had been roommates in college and Magnus loved to complain about Clary’s terrible taste in men. “I take it that you still haven’t come to your senses about that dissolute blond rapscallion?”

Funnily enough, Jace looked only mildly amused by that description and Clary even smiled back at Magnus. “Sadly, I’m still quite fond of him. And who have you got there?”

Immediately, the attention turned to Raphael, who slipped his hands in his dark jeans. “It’s Raphael,” he said and shot everyone a quick glance. “I go here now, too.”

As soon as the words had left his mouth, he realized how weird they must have sounded. He didn’t look as young as he was, he reminded himself, there was no reason for them to question his right to be here. But nobody seemed to care about that, anyway.

“Freshman, huh? Me too. Maybe we’ll have some courses together!” The black-haired girl who just had to be an actual sibling of Alec shot him a grin. “I’m Izzy. And don’t listen to Magnus, PDA isn’t that bad.” When Jace made a face, she added: “I mean, Phi Delta Alpha isn’t that bad. Go on, tell’em about that tolerance thing.”

She elbowed Jace encouragingly.

Jace nodded as Clary squeezed his hand. “Yeah, we’re going for a new way of handling things. You know, now that I’m one of the older brothers they actually listen to me, so we… well, will be more open. Won’t repeat last year, you know?”

Magnus huffed. “What a lovely idea.”

Last year, Phi Delta Alpha had gotten their hands on the phone numbers of several Ny Theta Delta members, leading to an awful “joke” involving gay porn sites which had the Dean almost expel half of the latter frat. The truth came out eventually and the frat boys of Delpha (as it was often shortened) were advised to refrain from such behavior in the future. The Ny, who were known to present a safe space for many minorities on campus, were not given a proper apology. And Magnus was not one to forgive and forget.

“I have one word for you and your brothers: Pathetic,” he said to Jace. Then he turned to face Alec again. “As for you: Apodyopsis. I really hope you reconsider your decision. Call me if you do. Some friend of your brother here should still have my number from that _hilarious_ prank last year. Let’s go, Raphael.”

Raphael didn’t get the time to watch their faces – or ask for the meaning of Apodyopsis. As he turned around, some white blur rushed into him, pouring something cold all over Raphael’s black shirt.

The white blur turned out to be a young man with brown eyes wearing a white shirt – well, what used to be a white shirt and was now dripping with coffee. Raphael’s shirt was in the same state. At least it had been iced coffee; Raphael wasn’t sure if he could have controlled his temper otherwise.

As it was, he interrupted the other one – who was sputtering one apology after another – with a low growl. “ _Idiota._ ”

The boy stopped mid-word and stared at him with helpless puppy eyes. Raphael chose to henceforth ignore this annoyance and turned to Magnus. “Where can I change?”

His friend had watched the scene in surprise but composed himself quickly. “Of course, dear, I’ll show you your room.”

They left without another glance at the abashed figure still holding about four cups with varying amounts of coffee between his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thambi - Tamil for "little bro"  
> Apodyopsis - the act of mentally undressing someone
> 
> Thanks for reading! English is my third language, so please feel free to correct me (thanks to UndercoverBrownBoy for already doing so!)


	2. You should wear coffee more often, by the way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that this chapter talks about something homophobic Jace's frat did - if you skip the paragraph starting with "For a moment", it's already over. Just know that Magnus is awesome for future reference

“Gosh, Simon, are you okay?” Clary was already on Simon’s side, pulling out some tissues, while Isabelle took the cups from his hands.

“Perfect, Simon only killed Jace’s coffee! So not sharing mine,” Izzy exclaimed happily.

The Hispanic boy had already disappeared into the crowd – probably cursing about the last five generations of Simon’s ancestors – but Simon didn’t stop looking in his direction. “I didn’t mean to—”

“I know, Simon.” Clary smiled and pressed his hand on the tissues on his chest. “Raphael will survive. His shirt was all black anyway.”

Slowly, he nodded. Then he snapped back to reality. “How do you know his name?”

“He’s a friend of Magnus,” Jace said, before taking a sip out of Clary’s cup. “You missed the…introduction.”

That was when Alec cleared his throat. “And who, exactly, is Magnus?”

“And what did you guys do to him?” Izzy added. She was sitting on the edge of the table that Clary was responsible for – Zeta Zeta’s, the Delpha’s sister sorority.

As the attention shifted to Jace, the group was presented with a rare image: Jace being visibly uncomfortable. “Magnus is president of the Ny – at least he is now that Jordan finally graduated. He’s a good guy, as far as I can tell. I mean, he handled the whole thing pretty well last year…”

“Which thing?”

For a moment, Jace looked like he was willing to kill Simon for that question, but then he just sighed. “To keep a long story short: Some douchebags – who thankfully graduated – thought it would be incredibly funny if they could get the pledges to embarrass the Ny. Then some major— “, he took in a deep breath, “well, they gave them the idea to make a homepage. Some sort of, I don’t know, messaging service but with gay porn. It wasn’t funny in the first place. And then some of the ones, uh, affected? They turned out to be actually gay. But before that, the Dean found out about the site and took it for real, so half of the Ny were about to be expelled. Then Magnus showed up, demanded to speak to the Dean, pulled out the college ordinance and explained why entertaining a porn messaging service was actually well within the guidelines. Didn’t even mention the Delpha pledges involved. So, yeah, there’s that.”

“Wow. You screwed up big time,” Simon said into the silence that followed. Clary must have already known about the story, but she seemed to be just as affected as the others. She gave him an empathetic smile, knowing very well that Simon wasn’t straight either.

Jace,, on the other hand, shot him an annoyed look. “Thanks for the in-depth analysis, buddy. You should wear coffee more often, by the way.”

“So, what about their sister sorority?” Izzy asked, pointedly lighthearted. “Any skeletons in the closet?”

Simon noticed Alec flinching at his sister’s words, but the others were looking at Clary, and he sure wasn’t going to draw attention to Alec’s reaction. Contrary to popular opinion, he was perfectly able to keep his mouth shut. His ability to listen while having an inner monologue was severely lacking though. Also, there _was_ coffee on his shirt and it started to feel uncomfortable.

“…so it’s only a ‘fraternity’ in name since they technically accept all genders,” Clary finished as Simon threw the now brownish tissues in the trash.

And just like that, their little break was over, and a bunch of new freshmen attacked Simon’s friends with questions, Alec – who was new but certainly not a freshman – disappeared and Isabelle tackled her third cup of coffee. Simon decided to go look for his room before people started connecting his face with huge coffee stains.

 

Somehow, he had ended up in the hopefully right dorm, but he had to pull out every flyer and information sheet he had been given and sent by mail out of his bag before he got his hands on the room number. He was already mentally drawing up his to-do list: Finding his room, taking a shower, messaging his friends about his location, calling his mom to let her know he was fine. Oh, and checking the Wi-Fi signal. Maybe he should also organize some food? He wasn’t hungry yet, but maybe he would be in a few hours, when the stores weren’t – that was his room!

He fumbled for his key, changed his bag to the other shoulder and opened the door. The first thing he saw was a tiny kitchen to his left, then an even tinier bathroom opposite of the door he was just closing, and finally a dark-haired angel in a bunk bed.

Seconds later, the angel turned out to be a. not an angel, b. not wearing a shirt, c. very pissed off, and d. Raphael aka the guy Simon had showered in coffee.

“Oh shit, it’s you!” Simon hadn’t meant to say that, but his mouth was not one to care about details like that. When his brain had caught up, he added: “I’m so sorry about earlier, it was an accident, I swear.”

Raphael stared at him for a few seconds. “ _What_ are you doing here?”

“Well, that’s awkward. I guess I’m your roommate.” Simon shrugged apologetically but Raphael didn’t seem to care a lot. He didn’t even look at him as he grabbed a fresh shirt.

“You got the wrong room. Try again.”

Simon could feel the tips of his ears go red. “This is not 3-0-4?”

The other was massaging the bridge of his nose already. “ _No_ , this is not – wait, what?”

“3-0-4?”, Simon repeated uncertainly. Raphael jumped up and crossed the room.

“I can’t have a roommate. I was _meant_ to have… let me see this.” And just like that, the still not properly dressed boy snatched the papers out of his hand. Simon was careful not to come too close as he peered over his shoulder.

There was the brochure of the scholarship – Theresa Gray Foundation for Orphans and Semi-Orphans it read, and Simon only wasn’t embarrassed about it because of page two, mentioning that there was a whole floor reserved for the holders of this scholarship, single rooms available when necessary. Raphael skimmed the other pages, too, including the menu of the cafeteria, but to no avail: Simon was in the right room. So was Raphael, apparently.

“Don’t. Move,” he hissed and stormed out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Feel free to correct me.


	3. Have Fun Training Your Menacing Stare

“Please, Ma’am, is there no way—”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Santiago.” The elderly woman behind the desk closed the tab with the student register and took off her reading glasses. “There’s a lot happening at the start of a semester and an administrative error like that – well, graver mistakes have been made. I can’t promise the administration can even look at it within this week.”

 _Within this week_. Raphael was doing his best to not grind his teeth – his tía hated it when he did that. Instead, he took a deep breath, reminded himself that he hadn’t been raised by bats and gave her his best smile. “I understand. I’m certain you are doing everything in your power and I don’t want to seem ungrateful. Thank you for your efforts.”

The secretary’s face softened. “Of course, dear. I’ll make sure they’ll know it’s urgent. Is there something I could tell—”

“No, thank you,” he hurried to say, still smiling to take the harshness from his tone. He wasn’t going to tell this woman any reason for his request beyond what she already knew: Raphael was still a minor and could refuse to room with someone who wasn’t, as per college ordinance. There was no point in telling her about his nightmares. He would just have to grit his teeth.

He said goodbye as politely as possible and went for the exit.

 

The coffee assassin – as Magnus had called him – was still in their room but hadn’t moved a lot: He was leaning crossed-legged against his bag, balancing a laptop on his knees. His hair still looked a bit sticky from the coffee, but he had changed into a hoodie. When Raphael closed the door, the boy looked up and raised his eyebrows.

“So, am I homeless?”

Raphael crossed his arms. “Not yet. They’ll report back to us. So, since I’ll have to bear your presence for at least seven days: My bed,” he pointed at the bottom bunk, then picked the left dresser at random, “my drawers. You shower. Go.”

His short-term roommate took a moment to process all of this, then stood up with a shrug. “And a very warm welcome to you, too,” he murmured as he passed Raphael.

Raphael turned around without changing his posture. “Wait.”

“What?” His tone was pointedly distant, but the corner of his mouth twitched as if he was trying to suppress a smile.

“Raphael Santiago. What’s your name anyway?”

Now, he didn’t even try to hide his smile. “Simon. Simon Lewis.”

Raphael did not return the smile. “I’m not sure what’s supposed to be your first name.”

“You know, I don’t buy your attitude. I have a friend who behaves just like you, but he’s actually a huge sweetheart. At least towards his family. You know what, I’m not sure Alec qualifies as a friend of mine—”

“There’s coffee in your hair, Simon Lewis.”

“I’m just saying—” Raphael growled and closed the bedroom door.

This was going to be a long week. Or more.

 

There were a couple of things Simon had expected to experience in college: Getting way too drunk, regretting getting way too drunk, meeting the strangest people, and pulling all-nighters to cram for an accounting exam he couldn’t remember just hours after were only some of them. Being unproportionally grateful for a lukewarm shower featuring a shower curtain with bacon print wasn’t on the list, but Simon found it pretty great anyway. It had been one exhausting day.

After Raphael’s general reaction to his presence, Simon’s remorse had declined by a lot, and since Clary had already offered that he could sleep with the Zeta Zeta girls if his new roommate kicked him out, he was in a pretty good mood. That was until he left their bathroom – honestly this Theresa Gray girl had given way too much money to a demographic group this small – and Raphael’s voice was suddenly very audible from behind the closed door.

“ _Él es terrible.”_

Lovely. Apparently, he was talking about him on the phone – unless Raphael knew anyone else who deserved the name “coffee assassin”. Simon couldn’t help but listen as he continued to vent on. Just as he decided to put a halt to the rant, Raphael’s voice went softer.

“ _Sabes que no puedo dormir así. ¿Qué pasa si tengo una pesadilla y él...Tía, no!_ ”

Oh. _Pesadilla_ meant nightmare – which Raphael didn’t want Simon to witness. That sure explained a lot. Didn’t exactly justify his cranky behavior, but well. Explained some things. And it wasn’t like Simon was going to judge Raphael for something like bad dreams – after all, the most likely traumatic loss of at least one parental figure was one of the conditions for their scholarship. Also, Simon wasn’t one to talk about sleep problems.

He was about to tell him exactly that when Raphael started…giggling?

“ _Tía!_ _Èl no es tan patético que es entrañable! Es solamente patético. Eres terrible, también.”_

Well, thank you very much. The “pathetic” boy had heard enough. Needless to say, Raphael stopped smiling when Simon entered.

“Sorry, tía, I’ll call you back. Love you too.” He hung up and turned his attention to Simon who wasn’t as understanding as he had been twenty seconds ago. “What?”

Simon realized that Raphael didn’t think he understood Spanish - it wasn’t like one could see that his bilingual father made sure his children could understand him whatever language he spoke. He felt a lot like grinning smugly, and he didn’t really stop himself from doing so. “Nothing. I just felt like mentioning that there’s nothing embarrassing about nightmares.” Raphael grabbed his phone tighter. “Oh, and _recuerdos a tu tía_ , for next time.”

He went pale and Simon probably shouldn’t have felt as satisfied.

“Were you eavesdropping like a ten-year-old?” Raphael finally got out.

“Were you never introduced to the concept of lowering your voice? The walls are barely thicker than paper,” Simon shot back. He was pretty sure Raphael was about to bare his teeth or something.

For a few moments, they exchanged angry looks: Raphael motionless with crossed arms, Simon furiously fidgeting with a loose thread of his sleep shirt. Unsurprisingly, it was the latter who gave up first, throwing his hands in the air.

“You know what? Whatever, I’m gonna sleep. Have fun training your menacing stare.”

He made sure to fall on his bed as violently as possible. What a freaking amazing day to start a new semester.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Él es terrible – He’s terrible  
> Sabes que no puedo dormir así. ¿Qué pasa si tengo una pesadilla y él...Tía, no! – You know I can’t sleep like that. What if I have a nightmare and he...Auntie, no!  
> Tía! Èl no es tan patético que es entrañable! Es solamente patético. Eres terrible, también. – Auntie! He’s not so pathetic that it’s endearing! He’s just pathetic. You’re terrible, too.  
> Recuerdos a tu tía – Greetings to your aunt.
> 
> I'm sorry if I made any mistakes! Thanks for reading, as always!


	4. I don't bite without consent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note that Magnus does not mind swearing unlike Actual Sweetheart Simon and Good Catholic Raphael so prepare for f-bombs and friends!

“So, just so I get it right, you’re in the library – which you were vastly excited to see – because Sheldon brought Clary and her friend over and you love the library, but you hate to be there, although no one asked you to go. Anything else?”

Magnus leaned against the banister of the front porch and watched the goose bumps spread over his arms. Fall was just around the corner. So, was it appropriate to be wearing only blue silk pajama bottoms? Probably not. But, more importantly, did the shimmery material look great on him? Abso-fucking-lutely. Especially illuminated by the two dozen candles the frat members had arrayed during long summer nights.

Playing with the flame of the one in front of him, he listened to Raphael complain at length about his roommate Shawn. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot to complain about, given that their relationship didn’t exactly start well, and Raphael tended to see things in the most negative light. Don’t get him wrong, he loved him like a little brother, but, god, the boy could be a grumpy bastard. Also, Samuel hadn’t really done anything out of limits after the coffee incident. Not that Magnus was telling Raphael that. Who would start an argument if he could be outside drinking and occasionally humming in agreement?

Sadly, the peace was disturbed when he noticed a movement near the fence. He hated to feel his muscles tense immediately.

“Sorry, Raphael, I have to go,” he interrupted his friend loudly. “I think we’ve got an uninvited visitor.”

Magnus did not wait for him to answer before hanging up. Staring intently in the general direction of the movement, he could only make out a shadow. “Come out, honey, I don’t bite without consent,” he said, but his tone lacked any friendliness.

Slowly, the gate opened and into the light stepped a distantly familiar figure, hands hidden deep in his pockets.

“Alexander?” He didn’t even try to hide his surprise.

“Most people call me Alec,” the young man said automatically, before realizing he probably shouldn’t focus on that part. “Sorry for interrupting your call,” he added.

Magnus let out an amused huff. “Don’t worry, I’ve heard that one before. A Delpha pledge on my property on the other hand…That’s new. How come?”

He watched closely as Alexander approached like a man on a mission. Anywhere else, he might have just appreciated the eye candy. Here, at his home, he was also well aware that he was standing between a few dozen people he had promised himself to protect, and some stranger associated with a group he was fairly suspicious of. He might as well have had “off limits” written on his forehead.

Right now, said forehead was wrinkled in confusion. “I’m not a pledge yet. And you're glistening.”

Magnus looked down. Oh, right. “Citrus body lotion. Keeps the mosquitos at bay.” He waved dismissively. “You were saying?”

Alec swallowed. “I didn’t really expect anyone to be outside, to be honest. But now that I’m here anyway…” He looked up to and Magnus straight in the eyes. “I heard about the things some Delpha guys did last year and the fact that none of the others came forward about it…” He shook his head. “I want to apologize on behalf of the whole fraternity. And I realize that one can’t change the past, but I can testify that the remaining members of the frat genuinely do their best to improve.”

Magnus propped his arms on the wooden banister so that there was only about a foot between him and Alec, who still stood on the lawn and who was obviously not used to looking up at people. “You know, it’s an old hat to send the gay one ahead to do the dirty work. And like you said, you aren’t even a pledge yet.”

“I’m not gay,” Alec said with a frown.

Magnus raised his eyebrows. “It’s also an old hat to send the only attractive one on the team.”

In the light of the candles, it was impossible to say if he blushed or not. “I’m here of my own accord because I think what happened was wrong. And,” he cleared his throat, “because if my sister decides she wants to look into your frat, I don’t want mine to be the enemy.”

“Your sister?”

“You’ve seen her, she was there two days ago? I think your friend Raphael shares a room with a guy whose best friend is also her best friend and my brother’s girlfriend? Anyway…” He shook his head and looked away to recollect his thoughts. Unfortunately, that meant that he was looking straight at Magnus’ pajama bottoms which – yes, now he was definitely blushing. He seemed to conclude that his face was safest to look at and continued: “Izzy’s aromantic pansexual and I can’t make sure she’s safe when the Ny won’t let any Delpha boys near them. And it’s not like I fulfill the requirements to join you.”

Magnus looked him over slowly. He had a weakness for protectors, he was well aware of that. He also had a weakness for dark hair and dark eyes, which didn’t help a lot with weighing up the pros and cons of a peace offer coming from the Ny, after everything the Delpha did. He looked at the sky.

“Well, if your sister is interested in becoming a Ny, she should come over this Saturday. We’re throwing a party to get the rushing process going.” They locked eyes when Magnus looked down again. He sighed. “Consider the invitation expanded to any of those Delpha boys – and only those – who are willing to express their readiness for peace. But if they can’t behave—”

His eyes brightened. “They will, I promise. Thank you. I’ll talk to the others, no one will misstep. Thank you,” he said more sincerely before he frowned again. “Will the others just accept that?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “They don’t have much of a choice. I own the building.”

There was a pause during which Alec stared at the – well, mansion sounded pompous, but Magnus loved pompous. After a few more seconds, he found his voice again. “How?”

“I’m that rich Indian prince grandmas keep sending money to.”

A startled laugh escaped from Alec’s lips and Magnus decided that he rather liked that sound. Not necessarily the one who made it. But he did have a nice laugh.

“I probably should get going,” Alec said after they had smiled at each other for a short while, suddenly serious again.

He had already turned around when Magnus decided to say another thing. “Alexander!”

“Yes?”

“Just to be clear, there are no special requirements to join us. We aren’t a ‘gay club’,” he made air quotes with his fingers, “or anything else. The only condition is to not be a dick, and we aren’t even very strict about that if you ask me.”

Alec looked like he was going to say something, but he just nodded. “Okay.”

“Good night, Alexander.” He blew out the first candle. It was time to go in.

They looked at the fume. Finally, Alec turned to go. “Good night…Magnus. Thank you.”

He watched as the man became a shadow again. That boy was…something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so excited for the Malec chapter, you won't believe - hope you liked it, too! As always, do correct me, I genuinely don't mind. Be prepared for a lot of pillow talk in the next (shorter) part!


	5. I'd make a great vampire, don't you think?

It was 2AM and Simon had not slept yet. In fact, he hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep in any of the three nights since the start of the new semester.

That wasn’t his roommate’s fault – despite his claims to the contrary, Raphael seemed to be an easy sleeper. Simon was not.

He thought about what Clary had told him: That he shouldn’t take Raphael’s behavior to heart. Maybe the death of Raphael’s parent – or even parents, given that he had called his aunt first – wasn’t that long ago or maybe he had problems with handling change. Or it was a defense mechanism he had developed, maybe he hadn't had the support he had needed, or _he is just a dick_ , Simon had added to Clary’s disapproval. But she simply said that it couldn’t hurt to be nice for a week. And they could still kill him if it got worse, Izzy reminded him.

He made a mental note to ask his mom to send his non-prescription valerian capsules – he hadn’t taken them in a while, but maybe he needed them for the settling-in period. Was that a thing?

He was about to pull out his phone to change the song and question the internet about that when he heard a whimper from the bed below. Yanking the headphones out of his ears he made out some snatches in Spanish. Not loud enough to understand anything, but Raphael’s tone was desperate.

Simon leaned over the wooden beam at the side of his mattress. Now, the murmur sounded a lot like a prayer. He reached behind to grab the beam with one hand and used the other to cautiously shake his roommate’s shoulder.

Raphael grabbed his wrist before he even opened his eyes. When he did, he looked around the room in panic, pressing his fingertips tightly against Simon’s pulse. It took him a few moments to assess the situation until his eyes found Simon, hanging over the top bunk’s edge, his hair sticking out in about every direction. He groaned and shoved his hand away.

Simon wasn’t deterred – he had ultimately decided to at least never let Raphael disturb his mood. And saving someone from a bad dream was just being a decent person. “Great, you’re finally awake. I need your opinion. I’d make a great vampire, don’t you think? Hanging upside down is surprisingly nice. And as soon as I don’t have any blood left to rise – fall? – to my head, it got to be awesome.”

He changed the hand holding onto the beam as Raphael let out another groan. “Let me tell you exactly where in hell you can go.”

“You can’t.”

Letting his hand fall over his eyes shouldn’t have looked this exasperated, but Raphael made it work. Impressive. “You aren’t actually undead, Simon.”

Simon rolled his eyes, which made him slightly dizzy. “Duh. Still, your concept of hell doesn’t even apply to me. I’m Jewish.”

“Go to Jewish hell, then.” He sat up with a sigh. “Do you guys even have hell?”

“Depends on who you ask, real—” With a thump, Simon fell on the carpet, barely avoiding landing headfirst. There was a pause as he re-arranged his limbs, during which Raphael almost fell asleep again. Simon firmly ignored that. “The Rabbi at home used to call _Gehinnom_ ‘Supernal Washing Machine’. I’m not sure if that qualifies as hell.”

“ _Dios mio_ , do you never shut up?”

“You asked, actually.”

There was another thump as Raphael’s head hit the wall.

“Speaking of, I heard your friend is throwing a party on Saturday.”

“I will not ask him to invite you.”

“Already am, _muchas gracias_.” Simon spread out on the floor. “Anyway, Izzy said you guys had a great time in ‘Gross Medicine Stuff 101’ but that might have been your twin who still possesses his laughing muscles. I just remembered that I was supposed to ask you if you want to come shopping for it this Friday.”

“I’ll think about it. How is someone like her friends with someone like you?”

“My best friend Clary and she had an ONS some years ago which lead to Clary dating Izzy’s brother Jace,” Simon yawned, “So, yeah, weirdest squad origin story ever. Also, I think Magnus has the hots for Alec. Which I get, I mean, have you seen his—”

“Taking the question back.”

He shrugged. “He's got nice eyes is all I’m saying. I think Izzy is trying to set them up. Not that Alec has come out yet. She seems to be pretty sure, though. Considering how their parents handle her being sex-positive though…” Another yawn escaped Simon’s mouth.

“Will you go to sleep or at least shut up if you can tell Isabelle that I’m coming with her on Friday?”

Simon grinned. “Finally. I promised to not take no for an answer.”

Raphael’s heartfelt groan sounded through the room as Simon climbed the ladder to his bed. “I’ll drown you in the Supernal Washing Machine.”

“You really have to work on your attitude if you want to treat live patients. Not everyone can be a forensic pathologist.”

“My heart goes out to your next roommate.”

For a moment, there was silence as Simon was detangling the covers on his bed. Then Simon spoke up again, softly this time. “Do you think you’ll have another bad dream tonight?”

“I hate you with the fire of a thousand suns.”

“That’s from ’10 Things I Hate About You’!” Normally, Simon would have been a little more excited about Raphael quoting a 90’s movie, but his body was demanding the sleep it had missed in the last three nights. “If you wake up again, you can watch it on Netflix. My laptop’s down there somewhere.”

Raphael didn’t answer. Maybe he was already sleeping. Probably. Maybe he should try that too. He yawned one last time. Yeah, maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, please, please correct me if I said anything wrong about the Jewish concept of hell! I've got my information from [this site](https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1594422/jewish/Do-Jews-Believe-in-Hell.htm) so I hope it's not too far from reality. Thank you so much for reading, your comments make my day!


	6. I'm starting an idiot jar

“I’m sorry, Raphael, but you have to see that this is an emergency.”

Isabelle Lightwood was wearing black pants with a blood red sweater. ‘ _But can you do it in high heels?_ ’ was printed on it. She was looking amazing, as usual.

Raphael Santiago was wearing a grim facial expression. ‘ _Why would you do this to me?_ ’ was written all over it. He was looking pissed off, as usual. (Magnus lovingly called it resting killer face.)

“One, I’m not a ‘this’, two, it’s not that bad, come on.”

Simon Lewis was wearing an unspeakable shirt that was somehow both too small and too loose in all the wrong places. Isabelle was right, he needed this. But why did Raphael have to be part of it?

They stopped at the water fountain in the middle of the mall to discuss their next steps. “I’m going to need coffee to survive this,” Raphael announced and was content to see Simon look guilty for a moment.

Isabelle clapped her hands. “Great idea, you could both need some caffeine for your mood.”

“I’ve been to the café in here, it’s great. That one guy could make Darth Vader out of the milk foam,” Simon said, trying to match her cheerful tone.

Maybe it was the early hour or maybe it was the fact that one third of the group couldn’t stand another third of it, but they spent the walk in awkward silence.

After they had ordered and sat down, Isabelle slapped the table. “Today’s not going on like this.” She waited for the boys to look at her in a more or less interested way before continuing: “I know both of you guys separately and you aren’t awful people. So if you could please, just for today, behave like you usually do around me, instead of visibly hoping for the other one to drop dead,” she made a pause to look at Raphael, “I’d greatly appreciate it. Do we have an agreement?”

Raphael turned to look at Simon, who was already returning his gaze with raised eyebrows. He genuinely liked Isabelle. She was smart, could take a hint and had something like a calm inner center that could not be disturbed easily. Unlike the fidgeting mess next to her who was tracing the rim of his cup with his thumb repeatedly. But the more productive they were today, the less awful shirts Raphael had to see.

He nodded at the same time as Simon said, “Yeah.” He visibly relaxed and Raphael, too, felt like something had been lifted from his shoulders. Weird.

“But I’m starting an idiot jar. Anytime Simon does or says something idiotic, he must put a dollar in it – or more, if it’s very idiotic,” Raphael said, looking Simon straight into the eyes.

Isabelle was about to protest when Simon grinned. “Deal. But only if the same goes for you.”

Raphael couldn’t believe he was actually taking the hand Simon was extending. It wasn’t as wet as he was expecting – it was just warm. But he didn’t let go.

Instead, a devilish grin appeared on his face and he gripped his hand tighter. “How does a sniper take their coffee?” He did not wait for an answer. “One shot. “

Raphael stared at him in disbelief until Simon got up to throw his cup away. “That will be one dollar for the jar. Add it to the tip,” he finally got out, almost calmly.

Izzy laughed into her cup.

“Are you kidding?” he asked her. “That wasn’t funny at all.”

“But your face was,” she said, now laughing openly.

 

“Don’t give me that face, _hombre_! Go try it on first.”

Two hours and three dollars for the idiot jar later, Simon was almost looking presentable. He was already wearing the jacket they had convinced him to buy a store ago. But the _idiota_ still didn’t know what was good for him.

“But it’s _transparent_!” But right now, Isabelle didn’t know either. Simon looked to Raphael for help. Reluctantly, he got up from the couch and came closer.

“He clearly doesn’t have the body type for this one, Isabelle. It would be wasted on him. He should try…” Raphael reached for a white long sleeve with round neck, “Something like this.”

 “You might be right,” she bit her lip skeptically and sighed. “I need coffee.”

Simon took the garment from him and retreated to the fitting room. Of course, that didn’t keep him from continuing the conversation. “I know I’m not the one studying medicine and everything, but is it good to consume that much caffeine? I mean, honestly, do you even pay attention when the lecturer isn’t talking about dead bodies?”

“Just because our little innocent had a hot chocolate, coffee isn’t automatically poison. But I’ll pass it up if you're this concerned,” Izzy said, inspecting her nails. “I think it’s more of a need for ice cream anyway.”

“But how much is too much?” he insisted. Coincidentally, he also got caught up in the curtain right after he asked.

At this point, Raphael started to believe that Simon did possess some sort of clumsiness-gene that wasn’t well known only because scientists all over the world couldn’t stop facepalming long enough to write a dissertation about it.

He answered anyway. “It’s about 1 milligram per pound at once or 2.5 milligrams per pound every day. Isabelle should be fine with a third latte.”

“What?” Simon managed to step away from the curtain without tearing it down.

“That’s the maximum caffeine intake considered harm—”

“Simon!” Isabelle exclaimed suddenly after she had finally looked up. “You are hot!”

The person addressed blushed and started playing with the hem of his new tee. She elbowed Raphael. “Tell him!”

He shrugged but felt the blood rushing to his face. “He should stop fidgeting if he wants to look attractive to anyone.”

Isabelle sighed. “I didn’t think you were one of those guys. Anyway, let’s get ice cream. I think there’s a shop across the street.”

Simon paid the long sleeve and another t-shirt with round neck Isabelle had picked and they were good to go.

A discussion over the superiority of a certain flavor emerged on the way, but Raphael didn’t listen too closely.

He wasn’t one of those guys Isabelle had been talking about – the ones who pretended they couldn’t recognize whether another member of their gender looked good or not. His tía had made a point of shielding her nephew from the toxic ideals that had turned her husband first into a terrible, then into a divorced man.

She had read him articles about the necessity of crying when it had suddenly felt like his mother had died a second time. She had bought him the doll he asked for and had laughed about his attempted surgery on it some months later. She had taught him to dance – both as the one who leads and the one who doesn’t. Just in case, she had said with a smile.

Raphael wouldn’t mind if anyone called him gay for acknowledging a man’s “sexiness”. The problem was that he didn’t know how to acknowledge something he couldn’t see, in no gender. He had stared at people in magazines for countless hours trying to find what his classmates found in them. But he only saw people and skin over bones and fat and muscles.

The models didn’t even have the endearing smile of a friend about to get both of them in trouble, or the warmth in their eyes that his mother and her sister had, or—

Where did they go? Raphael turned around to find Isabelle and Simon dashing towards a deserted shopping cart on the almost empty parking lot. Please, no.

He closed his eyes and counted to ten. When he opened them, Izzy had climbed into the cart and Simon was pushing it towards the far end of the lot. She was laughing already.

He turned the cart around and took a run-up as Raphael watched in disbelief. The lot wasn’t even slanted, Simon had to alternate between pushing and – _no_ – jumping on it. All of this was accompanied by their screams of joy.

They came to a screeching halt just before the waist-high wall that marked the end of the lot. Not that they seemed to care. Isabelle waved at him. “Wanna join us? I can push you both, no problem.”

Raphael shook his head as he stepped closer. “I’ll leave the…fun to you.”

 “You might be underage, but your soul probably needs a rollator.” She rolled her eyes.

He was still contemplating if he should just leave instead of answer when he noticed Simon was staring at him. “You are underage?”

“You haven’t told him?” Izzy’s eyes widened.

“It’s not important.” His tone was a bit too sharp. It was ridiculous, but he felt vulnerable, having his age exposed like that.

Simon frowned – which made him just look more like a confused puppy, by the way. However, he seemed to push that particular thought aside quickly. “It really isn’t. Who cares if he’s…”

“17 years and 5 months,” Isabelle filled in helpfully.

“…that or not. The important thing is that he is going to get into the cart now.” He gave Raphael a shy smile.

But he only shook his head again. “I’m going to get the ice cream – for when you are done with dying.”

He left as they changed places so that Isabelle was pushing Simon across the space.

“You know them?” the owner of the ice cream shop – an elderly man wearing an apron and a mustache that didn’t distract from his bald head – asked.

They both watched as Simon tried to stand up in the cart, trying to mimic ‘Titanic’. “I don’t think so.”

The man winked at him, making his mustache tilt quite funnily. He did not ask for Raphael’s order. Instead, he started cleaning an ice cream spoon, a knowing smile on his face.

“You’ll regret not joining them one day, you know?” he finally said. “There’s only so much time to be a cheeky brat.”

Suddenly, Raphael was very aware of the effort it took to ensure that no one had a reason to question his maturity. And he felt very tired of it.

“Go on, I’m not closing just yet. You look like you could need the fun.” He made a gesture with the spoon as if to nudge him in the right direction.

What a weird old man. But maybe he was right. Raphael gave him a quick nod – his mustache was tilted again – and hurried after the shopping cart.

“Simon!”

Simon, who was pushing the cart again, turned around to see Raphael running towards them. “Huh?”

Raphael grinned. “What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not happy with this chapter, but I wanted to post it today to give you a longer chapter before school continues for me. The next four weeks, I'll have nine exams, followed by another five tests in my main subjects so I hope you understand that I can't update daily. I will do my best to update regularly though, at the very least twice a week. Have a good time <3


	7. A Little Party Never Killed Nobody

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Underage drinking is referenced, swearing is happening and someone just had to draw...something like the Delphas' collective genitals, I guess?

“And I repeat, if any of you do as much as _think_ of a slur, I will personally register your asses for another human decency seminar held by me and an air horn – and if you are stupid enough to give your ignorance a fucking voice, you can take your next exam in the hos—”

“I think they got the gist, Jace”, Alec interrupted his brother. Ever since Izzy had come out to them, he had become even less willing to let the frat brothers get away with prejudiced comments – although the main difference was the new-found vividness in describing the primarily violent consequences.

Not that the young men needed the regular reminder – most of them were actually decent guys, especially since Starkweather had finally graduated. Still, some of them looked genuinely horrified, hopefully suggesting that they would behave.

After a quick head count – it was the whole frat since no one had refused to partake in the apology, but it was always good to know the number of people you might have to carry home beforehand – Jace and Alec exchanged a glance, then nodded. It was time.

As the group turned the corner, Alec quietly watched his brother, wondering how it was possible that they knew each other so well yet Jace had no idea about the confusing storm inside him. How they had had the same parents for so many years but Jace never seemed to fear to become a disappointment to them. Maybe because he just didn’t disappoint.

Alec on the other hand… He swallowed. That didn’t matter now, they had to find Magnus first.

 

“Because I did not make this door soundproof so you can fool around without being disturbed, Elias!” Magnus pointed one perfectly manicured finger out to the hallway and the first-year reluctantly left with their escorts. The party had barely started, and Magnus was already playing the babysitter. He sighed. “I’m sorry, Aleyna. They are uncontrollable.”

Aleyna just laughed. “I’ve been here for a while. I know that. Don’t worry,” she added when she saw Magnus’ face. “I still can’t believe you did all this during the summer!”

They both looked at the construction that separated a couple of rooms from the rest of the house, creating a safe space far from the party. “I made someone do it, technically. He was cute. Interested?”

The girl smacked him on the arm. “I literally have a date with my boyfriend tonight, Magnus Bane!”

“And I hope he can appreciate your lovely new scarf through the webcam.” He smiled as Aleyna automatically touched her headscarf and blushed.

“Oh, leave. You have a party to throw and a Delpha to seduce.” She rolled her eyes at his surprised face and went to close the door behind him. “I’m taken, not stupid.”

“That’s not— “

But the door was closed. Magnus turned around to face… a flock of jocks. He raised an eyebrow, hoping they didn’t just hear that. “Hello, group of people I don’t remember inviting.”

That was when Jace stepped forward. “We came to finally apologize.”

He pointed two fingers at Jace and Alexander, who had also appeared. “You two I remember. You did not bring twenty strippers as an apology, did you?” Magnus was quite proud of his ability to make two dozen frat boys turn beet-red at once.

Jace simply grinned. “I’m afraid not. Sadly, we couldn’t afford our own performance, but we brought this.”

Magnus had literally never seen a package wrapped that bad. He looked at Alec, who gave him an apologetic smile. Oh, the things he did for pretty faces like his.

The wrapping hadn’t prepared him for the gift: It was a pride flag, at least as long as he was tall, the rainbow colors joined by different shades of brown. As Magnus unfolded it, he discovered the Greek letters of his own fraternity were painted on it, possibly by Clary. Clearly not from Clary were the words ‘Your’ and ‘frat’ in a corner on the back, surrounding a poorly done painting of, well, a dick. Magnus was positively speechless.

“That’s not all,” Alec said and looked at his brother expectantly.

“The paint glows in the dark,” Jace said proudly.

There was a collective groan from behind him, which made Magnus guess that there was something else to tell. Alexander closed his eyes for a moment and took over. He stepped closer towards Magnus and looked at his face as if he hoped to find answers in it. Unfortunately, this kind of gaze tended to delete most words from Magnus’ memory. But thankfully, Alec started talking then.

“This is not some token gesture. We have talked to the dean and explained the whole thing. He was—”

He was interrupted by a chorus of something that sounded a lot like “fuck-furious-ready-to-piss-kill-us-mad-my-pants.”

After a moment, in which Alec’s look seemed to ask for patience – either from God or from Magnus – he kept talking as if the other boys hadn’t spoken at all. “He was indignant. But the truth is out there, Hodge Starkweather has been retrospectively kicked out of the fraternity and disinvited from all future alumni meetings and…” His eyes traced the lines of Magnus’ face before he looked firmly into his. “We are sorry. There is no way to make up for our behavior, but we will make an afford to try.”

“You forgot the part where we empty trash cans for months”, said a voice from behind him, quickly followed by “God, Raj, shut the fuck up.”

Alec sighed. „We better get going. Sorry to have interrupted your party.”

He deliberately ignored the emerging protests in favor of shooing them along the corridor. Magnus stared after them. This was the last thing he had expected to happen: He actually believed in their sincerity. Mainly because Jace and Alec seemed to mean it and they were clearly the leaders of the bunch. Though he imagined Alec was awaiting a night of twenty boys complaining about the booze they didn’t get. Unless…

“Alexander!”

It took a moment before the entire group noticed that one of them was being addressed – but Alec’s interested look was resting on Magnus for the whole of it. He sure hoped he wasn’t going to regret this. “We should at least drink a toast to our new flag of truce, shouldn’t we?”

Alexander smiled as the frat boys around him started cheering.

 

It took a firm tap on her shoulder to get Izzy to take her eyes off her brother and Magnus, who were doing their best to pin a pride flag to a wall as several people attempted to use it as a cape.

Turning back to the person she had been talking to didn’t stop her from grinning. The other girl shook her head in amusement and started signing, raising a brow. “How are you so sure about him wanting this again?”

 “He told me years ago when he was too drunk to remember”, Izzy’s hand movements were considerably slower but hopefully still comprehensible, “Our parents expect a lot from my brother. I think to him, coming out would be like…” What was the sign for disappoint again? “Making their expectations sad.”

Lina was kind enough to not comment her wording, although Izzy could see the laughter in her eyes. Her face turned more serious as they watched Alec and Magnus again.

Some years ago – back when Isabelle had wanted to be a famous private detective instead of a fabulous forensic pathologist – she had realized that, sometimes, the voice of truth wasn’t heard because no one made an afford to understand it. Like when the police “couldn’t understand” her abuela’s accent describing the pickpocket who turned out to be the captain’s son and almost put her in a nursing home as she was “confused and talking nonsense”. Izzy guessed that it had been things like that had led to her parents becoming lawyers. For her, it was hearing her grandmother sob over the shock of being utterly helpless when your voice wasn’t one people wanted to listen to, that got her to learn ASL – but she had also been convinced that knowing sign language was essential for investigations of all sorts.

In the end, there weren’t as many opportunities to use most of the stuff that she had taught herself as nine-year-old Isabelle had expected, but some of them – especially running on heels, martial arts and first aid – had proved to be useful enough. Right now, for example, she was talking to the cutest girl on the party as her brother clicked glasses with the admittedly handsome host. She really hoped that Magnus would get it, get Alec. And not turn out to be a dick. Because if her family got hurt, there would be consequences, no matter how awesome the frat or how freckled the members—

Lina squeezed Izzy’s hand and smiled reassuringly before signing: “Magnus is a good person. Don’t worry. Let’s have fun.”

She gave her brother another worried look. Lina turned her hearing aid back on, focused on the rhythm for a few seconds and, taking both of Izzy’s hands, pulled her on the dance floor – where Jace and Clary gave her thumbs ups for her dancing partner.

College is amazing, Izzy decided as Lina put her arms around her neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! Between finals and the flu, I couldn't squeeze a lot of writing in - but I'm getting there. I hope you like what I came up with - feel free to correct me, as always! Also, you can always ask me to tag something - even anonymously if you go to my [tumblr](http://schreibfederlaerm.tumblr.com/) of the same name!


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